SAN MARCOS EYES MEDICAL POT MORATORIUM, ON TOP OF BAN

Officials concerned that pending state court ruling could affect city’s own restrictions on dispensaries

Despite a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in San Marcos, the City Council today will consider imposing a 45-day moratorium on any future dispensaries.

The unusual step stems not from any recent application to open a medical pot shop, but from the city’s concern that a pending California Supreme Court ruling could wipe away its local restrictions.

If approved, the moratorium would be the first by a city in San Diego County tied to the pending ruling.

The case under review by the high court is the City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Health & Wellness Center Inc. It is an appeal from a dispensary questioning Riverside’s ban on the establishment. Trial and appellate courts have ruled in favor of the city.

Advocates and attorneys on both sides of the medical marijuana debate are closely watching the high court, which is expected to rule on the appeal by May 5.

California voters in 1996 approved the use of medical marijuana. Questions about how to legally distribute and regulate the federally banned substance have simmered ever since.

San Marcos has banned dispensaries since 2006. The city has taken code enforcement action against six medical marijuana establishments “over the past few years,” said city spokeswoman Jenny Windle.

One prominent San Diego County medical marijuana attorney said the proposed moratorium calls San Marcos’ strict medical pot rules into question. City officials, however, said Monday that they simply don’t want to be caught off guard with the high court’s ruling.

“If the ruling issued by the Supreme Court does not uphold local agency control of these dispensaries, the City’s current prohibition would be effectively pre-empted with no regulations in place,” City Attorney Helen Holmes Peak wrote in a report for today’s council meeting. “To avoid such a scenario, it is necessary that the City enact a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries under Government Code Section 65858 to protect the public health, safety and welfare until such time as the City can craft appropriate regulations governing dispensaries based on the Supreme Court ruling.”

That’s not exactly how attorney Lance Rogers reads the city’s action. The San Diego-based attorney, who defends medical marijuana proprietors and has been involved with litigation against San Marcos, said the city is trying to delay dealing with medical pot shop applications, and may do so for years.

He noted that state law allows jurisdictions to impose moratoriums for up to two years.

“The city of San Marcos is saying: ‘In the event we’ve been wrong all these years, and our city code is unconstitutional, we’re going to pass a moratorium so we don’t have to regulate dispensaries anytime soon.’”

In the San Marcos report, Peak said the city would bring forward another proposed moratorium after the initial 45-day period expired. That would give the city additional time to craft and approve new rules, if the high court rules in favor of the Riverside dispensary.

The moratorium would prohibit “the issuance of a business license, building permit, conditional use permit, or other land use approval” for any medical marijuana dispensary in the city’s boundaries, according to the city report.

The report added that dispensaries pose an “immediate threat” to the city’s “public health, safety and welfare.”

Advocates for medical marijuana say it provides relief for a range of ailments, from arthritis to cancer. Many have offered to safeguard their dispensaries with extra lighting, security cameras and employees.

Today’s council meeting is set for 6 p.m. at San Marcos City Hall, 1 Civic Center Drive.